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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

• About the 419 (Advance Fee) scam
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• Phone numbers used by 419 scammers
  (+225 +229 +234 +27 +31 +32 +34 +44 other)
• Company names mentioned in 419 spam:
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Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

• An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
• The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
  • "keep this confidential" (they don't want anyone to point out to you that this is a scam)
• This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
  
  1. They don't notify winners by email.
  2. You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
  3. They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
  4. They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
  5. They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
  6. They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
  7. They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
• This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
  • marilyngerald_02@yahoo.co.uk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: MSW PROMO <msw_02@mail.ru>
Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:45:16 +0400
Subject: AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION



FROM: THE DESK OF THE E-MAIL PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
MICROSOFT WORD LOTTERY,UK
3b Olympic Way, Sefton Business Park,
Aintree, Liverpool , L30 1RD
REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937
BATCH: 2005MJL-01
ELECTRONIC MAIL AWARD WINNING NOTIFICATION
We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today of winners of
the MSW MEGA JACKPOT LOTTO WINNINGS PROGRAMS held on 7th of JUNE
2006.
Your company or your personal e-mail address, is attached to winning
number 20-12DEC-2004-02MSW, with serial number S/N-00168 drew the lucky
numbers 887-13-865-37-10-83, and consequently won in the first lottery
category.
You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of GBP
5,500,000.00 POUNDS in cash credited to file REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937.
This is
from total prize money of GBP 27,500,000.00 POUNDS, shared among the
Twenty (5)international winners in this category.
All participants were selected through our microsoft computer ballot
system drawn form 21,000 names,3,000 names from each continent, as part
of International "E-MAIL" Promotions Program, which is conducted
annually for our prominent MS WORD user all over the world, and for the
continues use of E-mail. We are sorry to let you know that our site is
still
under construction, as we are updating our site.
Your fund has been deposited in an escrow account and insured with your
REF NO: MSW-L/200-26937 and your E-mail address, Please note that, you
are to contact us via email and not phone as we are promoting the use
of E-mail, any communications with this office should be by mail, You
have the right to call the bank, as we will provide you with the
necessary details on how to claim your prize. You are to keep your ref.
number
and batch number from the public, until you have been processed and
your money remitted to your account.
This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and the
act of scamming people of their ref number and prizes. We hope with a
part of your prize, you will participate in our year high stakes US$1.3
billion International Lottery.
To claim your winning prize, you must first contact the claims
department by email for processing and remittance of your prize money
to you. The claims officer contact email is:
Name: Marilyn Gerald
E-mail: marilyngerald_02@yahoo.co.uk (mailto:marilyngerald_02@yahoo.co.uk)
AND PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU ARE TO SEND THE BELOW INFORMATIONS
REQUIRED TO
CLAIM YOUR WINNING PRIZE:
1. FULL NAMES:
_______________________________________________________
2.NATIONALITY:
_______________________________________________________
3. DATE OF BIRTH ________________________________________
4. SEX: _________________________
5. MARITAL STATUS: _____________________________________
6. CONTACT ADDRESS: _____________________________________________
7. TELEPHONE NUMBER: ___________________
8. OCCUPATION: _________________________________
9. WINNING E-MAIL ADDRESS:________________________________
10.REF/ BATCH NUMBERS:_________________________________________
11.TOTAL AMOUNT WON:_________________________________________
Upon reciept of the duly requested data,i`ll send you the contact
information of the payment office so you can proceed with effecting the
release of your claim in anyway you deem fit, summit back immediately
Remember, all prize money must be claimed not later than the 20th of
JUNE, 2006. All funds not claimed on or before the fixed date will be
penalised accordingly.
NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, please
remember to quote your reference and batch numbers in all
correspondences
with your claims officer. Do not reply any other mails like this on net
as they are alot of scam artist out there pretending to be us. You may
see mails like this do not reply. Do contact your claims officer MRS
MARILYN GERALD at once by email. You will be asked to provide some
details
to enable us proceed file keeping.
PLEASE KEEP THIS CONFIDENTIAL.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Monica Lopez
For MS WORD LOTTO UK

Anti-fraud resources:

• What can you do when you receive 419 spam